07.22.11

“He’s not Joe Morgan. That’s reason enough to give Bobby Valentine the benefit of the doubt,” writes the Boston Globe’s Chad Finn of the former Mets/Rangers skipper currently working alongside Dan Shulman and Orel Hersheiser in the “Sunday Night Baseball” booth. And while there are few persons with an ounce of sanity who’d disagree that Morgan’s dismissal was a case of addition by subtraction, Finn cannot help but tweak Bobby V ever-so-gently, calling the analyst, “a fountain of insight…of course, the criticism of Valentine is that he doesn’t know when to shut off that fountain.”

Valentine talks. A lot. And just when it seems as if he’s run out of syllables, he finds a few more. As he puts it, without a hint of irony, “I know that some people call me a know-it-all.’’

“I really do want to share it, and I don’t want to make it seem like I’m a know-it-all,’’ said Valentine. “I absolutely try to work on it, to end a sentence, and be clear in the message. And that’s difficult. I’m baseball guy, and I believe that more is better. I believe in explaining details, and I believe if they didn’t hear you the first time, tell them again so that they understand it the second time. When you’re in the booth and going to commercial or going to a promo or going to a next pitch, you don’t have time to drag it out. You have to get a period in there and move on to the next thing. It’s a challenge.’’

Sometimes I try to view the game as a fan,’’ said Valentine, who doesn’t look much different now at 61 than he did during his playing days. “Sometimes I try to view it as a manager, sometimes as a player. I think it changes depending on what happens on the field and how I can best express my thoughts at the moment. I think a few times, for sure, the viewer is confused at what I’m saying.’’

He laughs. “I guess that’s the way it happens. So I’m just going to keep doing my best to make sure I explain it. Right up until the voice in my ear tells me to stop talking.’’